Primal Life Kit: 30 Products and 8 Discounts for $39

What’s The Primal Life Kit?

The people at PaleoPlan.com have put together a really exciting opportunity for you! When you purchase the $39 Primal Life Kit, you get $485 worth of the most popular and life-changing Primal and Paleo products:

• 22 ebooks
• 2 meal plans
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• 2 fitness programs
• 1 short audio book
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These educational and potentially life-changing Primal and Paleo products are being sold at more than 90% off their original retail value for one week only – April 2 through April 9! Included in this awesome bundle is a meal plan made by Primal Blueprint, a recipe ebook from Bill and Hayley over at PrimalPalate.com, a fitness program by Sarah Fragoso of Everyday Paleo, and a subscription to Paleo Magazine, among many other awesome products. All the ebooks are in pdf format, so you can read them on your computer or the e-reader of your choice.

Please see the full list of what you’ll get when you purchase this bundle below.

This $39 kit will give you all the tools you need to eat, cook, work out, and live Primally.

12 Recipe and Meal Planning eBooks

• Paleo Crock Pot: 25+ Beef, Pork, & Chicken Recipes by George Bryant and Abel James of CivilizedCavemanCooking.com ($2.99)

• 30-Day Intro to Paleo by Hayley Mason and Bill Staley of PrimalPalate.com (authors of Make It Paleo) ($15)

• Well Fed: Paleo Recipes for People Who Love to Eat by Melissa Joulwan of TheClothesMakeTheGirl.com ($14.95)

• Fast Paleo Top 100: The Top 100 Paleo and Primal Recipes Shared with FastPaleo in 2012 + 4 bonus ebooks (below) by James Gregory and Ute Mitchell of FastPaleo.com ($14.97)

• Fast Paleo Top 100: The Top 10 Muffins of 2012 by James Gregory and Ute Mitchell of FastPaleo.com (free bonus ebook)

• Fast Paleo Top 100: The Top 10 Beverages and Smoothies of 2012 + 4 bonus ebooks by James Gregory and Ute Mitchell of FastPaleo.com (free bonus ebook)

• Fast Paleo Top 100: The Top 10 Cookies of 2012 by James Gregory and Ute Mitchell of FastPaleo.com (free bonus ebook)

• Fast Paleo Top 100: The Top 10 Ice Creams of 2012 by James Gregory and Ute Mitchell of FastPaleo.com (free bonus ebook)

• Toadally Primal Smoothies by Primal Toad of PrimalToad.com ($5)

• Paleo Power Lunch: Easy, Filling, & Delicious Workday Meal Strategies by Stormy Sweitzer of maoomba.com ($27.50)

• The Paleo Breakfast Recipe Book: Over 100 Pages of Recipes by Suzanne Crawt of paleo.com.au ($17)

• Sow: Planting the Seeds for Health, Well Being, and a Superhero Life! by Joe Rignola of wellnesspunks.com

4 Autoimmune and PCOS eBooks

• 21-Day Paleo Cleanse: 3 Week Autoimmune Protocol Meal Plan by Neely Quinn of PaleoPlan.com ($25)

• Awaken: 30+ Egg-Free and Grain-Free Breakfasts by Karen Sorenson of lowcarboneday.com ($9.99)

• The Autoimmune Paleo Plan: A Revolutionary Protocol to Rapidly Decrease Inflammation and Balance Your Immune System by Anne Angelone of expandingqi.com ($4.99)

• PCOS Unlocked: The Manual by Stefani Ruper of paleoforwomen.com (special abridged 53 pages for this sale includes discount on remainder of her ebook) ($19)

5 Informational and How-To eBooks

• The Wild Diet by Abel James of FatBurningMan.com ($17)

• 21 Life Lessons from Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb by Jimmy Moore of livinlavidalowcarb.com ($15)

• Primal Deliverance: How Paleo Saved My Life From Addiction by James Gregory of fastpaleo.com ($14.97)

• Primal Tightwad: Maximizing Your Health on a Minimal Budget by Carolyn Rush of PrimalTightwad.com ($14.95)

• Free The Animal: How to Lose Weight and Fat on the Paleo Diet by Richard Nikoley of FreeTheAnimal.com ($7.95)

2 Meal Plans

• Primal Blueprint Primal Meal Plan – 1 month subscription to weekly Primal meal plans, grocery shopping lists, and the accompanying recipes for just $.01 from Mark Sisson and primalblueprint.com ($9.99)

• 6-week Paleo Meal Plan – 1 free 6-Week Paleo Meal Plan from Paleoista, by Nell Stephenson (author of Paleoista: Gain Energy, Get Lean and Feel Fabulous with the Diet You Were Born to Eat and co-author of The Paleo Diet Cookbook) at paleoista.com.at paleoista.com ($59)

2 Fitness Programs

• Sarah Fragoso’s Everyday Paleo LifeFit fitness and nutrition training program – 1 month for $.01 from the author of Everyday Paleo and everydaypaleo.com ($20)

• The Obstacle Course Race Training Program ebook by Stew Smith, CSCS and former Navy SEAL at stewsmith.com ($16.99)

3 Magazines (Online Subscriptions)

• The Performance Menu: Journal of Health & Athletic Excellence – Free 1 year subscription (12 issues) and 1 year of back issues from catalystathletics.com ($70)

• Paleo Magazine – Free 6-month online subscription (3 issues) and access to all back issues ($29)

• Paleo Living Magazine – Free 3-month (4 issues) iPad subscription (no expiration) ($15.96)

2 Bonuses

• Paleo Moms Look Good Naked by Peggy Emch (theprimalparent.com) – Audio recording of a portion of this new paperback book spoken by the author (Free)

• The Modern No-Nonsense Guide to Paleo ebook by Alison Golden of (paleononpaleo.com) – Three ebook chapters on Paleo shopping, kitchens, & lunches from her new book (Free)

8 Discounts

• Kasandrinos Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 30% off Greek extra virgin olive oil from Tony Kasandrinos’ family farm until December 31st, 2013

• Bulletproof Coffee Kit – 20% off Monthly Bulletproof Coffee Kit (24 oz. of coffee and a 32-ounce bottle of MCT oil) from BulletProofExec.com (no expiration date) ($9.80 value)

• Primal Life Organics – 20% off organic, Paleo, gluten-free, vegan skincare products, hair care products, and deodorant until May 1st, 2013

• Amrap Nutrition Refuel Bars - Buy one 8-Count box of Refuel Bars on Amazon and get 1 box free until April 30, 2013 ($23.95 value)

• Optimum Performance Training – 15% off apparel, supplements, and online fitness training course until Dec 31, 2013

• Paleo On The Go – 10% off Paleo food delivered to your home from paleoonthego.com until May 1

• Squatty Potty – 15% off all products through April and 10% for the rest of 2013.

• Sport Journals – 20% off WODbooks (for recording your workouts) until May 11, 2013

Get all of this (retail value $485) for just $39.

Seriously.

That’s normally the price of just one or two of these products! After you purchase the kit, you’ll be sent an email with a link to all of the downloadable products, as well as the coupon codes for all of the discounted products.

NOTE: Due to the short duration of this sale, there will be no refunds. These products are downloadable ebooks, online magazine subscriptions, and discount codes. You will not be shipped any physical goods with your purchase of the Primal Life Kit. Please contact neely@paleoplan.com with any questions about the Primal Life Kit.

Eating healthy seems to be a problem for almost everyone I meet. Food usually poses a bit of an issue for a huge proportion of the population, not just the people I encounter in my job, but people I encounter socially as well.

There is no doubt that we need to eat healthy. Food choices control your health and your weight. I know there are people out there who eat whatever they want whenever they want and make out like they don’t care about health or weight, but deep down, they are living a lie and the proof of that is that almost every one of those people will have a turnaround at some point in their lives. They will change from the person who is completely “happy” with themselves to the person who can’t believe they lived like that and wants to change. The only variable is when in these people’s lives will it happen.

But, as usual, I digress….

What I want to do in this post is drill into you that eating healthy food should just be a natural thing and shouldn’t consume your every thought!

Who’s ever done a 30 day challenge? I have.

Some challenges are very good, some are very bad. Good would be a strict 30 day challenge to remove all bad food from your diet ( Paleo or no sugar) or a strict 30 days of zone eating.

Bad would be lemon detox diet or soup diet or basically anything that is not leading you to a better way of eating. Something that is designed to be a quick fix and not sustainable or healthy.

Let’s focus on good 30 day challenges like Paleo or zone. These 30 day challenges are meant to set you up to continue eating like this for the long term. They are not designed to be used repeatedly. There is nothing healthy about a 30 day paleo challenge, then eat what you want for as long as you want, then feel bad and do another 30 day challenge and continue this cycle. Do one challenge, experience how you felt and continue to eat healthy for the long term.

But, I digress again…

So you’ve read “The Paleo Answer” and “A week in the Zone” and now you understand that eating healthy involves eating natural foods such as fruits, vegetables, proteins and good fats. In approximate ratios of 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat.

But, it is no fun to go to a party and pass on the wine and canapés because they’re not zone paleo or put on the kids birthday party and not serve up any treats.

Realistically, the majority of people will soon fall off the healthy eating wagon if this is they way they are trying to live.

Eating healthy needs to be a balance and something that does not require too much thought.

If there is no occasion to consider eating non healthy eating, then don’t! The default is to eat healthy, but if there is a call for non healthy eating, you don’t over think it. You enjoy it and that way you’ll feel fine with the system you have developed for yourself.

Your cupboards and fridge should be loaded with healthy food so you never need to consider other options under normal circumstances.

An example may help;

Monday: Breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner all healthy. You feel great.

Tuesday: Breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner all healthy. You feel great.

Wednesday: Breakfast, morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea all healthy. Dinner is a friends birthday at a restaurant that serves fairly unhealthy food that you love. Enjoy it!!!

Thursday: Breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner all healthy. You feel great.

Friday: Breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner all healthy. You feel great.

Saturday: Breakfast, morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea all healthy. Dinner you feel like takeaway and some alcohol, go for it and enjoy it, you’ve had a very quiet week on the junk food front.

Sunday: Breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner all healthy. You feel great.

The main points here are;

* Just because you had some cheat meals, it didn’t affect any other meals. A lot of people focus so much on food that as soon as they have a cheat meal, they feel like they have fallen off the wagon and follow one cheat meal up with a few more before if they are lucky, they pull them selves into line again.

* There’s 42 meals in a week, you only had 2 cheat meals this week. If you are pushing too many cheat meals too often, maybe you need to tighten the reigns a little, but if you’re being too strict, you’re possibly going to “fall off the wagon” ( by being too strict you’ve created a wagon to fall off!)

* Do not feel guilty when you have the occasional cheat meal!

* Make your healthy eating things that you enjoy so it is not a chore!

Please, don’t over think it. Eat healthy all the time except for the exceptions…Enjoy the exceptions for what they are and the next meal is healthy again. It’s a great cycle and it works!

If you have “fallen off the wagon” then leave the wagon on the side of the road and eat healthy at the next meal. There is no wagon, there is only healthy eating and a cheat meal here and there to keep you sane.

As a side thought… How do most parents manage their kids eating? They feed them healthy food and allow them junk here and there. Parents on the other hand are either all or nothing or worried about food or trialing a diet or defending their unhealthy habits. Maybe they could learn from how they feed their kids…

I don’t have exact quantities, so just use quantities based on your taste.

I have been using a mandolin to do my slicing, it makes it so much quicker and easier.

I use carrot, cucumber, celery, snow peas and corriander.

For dressing I use olive oil, soy sauce, a dash of white vinegar and a few drops of sesame oil. Without measuring, I guess it is almost equal quantities of olive oil and soy sauce with much less vinegar.

You can make a large bowl of this salad and dress it so that the flavours from the dressing infuse into the vegetables.

For the meat I saute it with a little onion and finish it with a few drops of sesame oil and a dash of soy sauce. 60g of meat per portion for females, 120g for males.

This could be a great option to put in a container and take to work, or just to keep in the fridge for when you need a quick feed for lunch or dinner.

Keep the meat separate from the salad until you are ready to eat it.

Enjoy!

So this morning’s class was simple, pull ups, push ups and squats. It doesn’t get much easier than that.

Pull up – Get your chin over the bar. Straighten your arms at the bottom.

Push ups – Touch your chin or chest on the ground. A push up starts at the top, not at the bottom. Move your chest and your hips to the same height at the top and bottom.

Squats – Keep your back straight, keep your knees out and get the crease of your hips below the top of the knees.

Now I’m not going to apologise for being a “Buzz Kill” after this morning’s workout, regardless of how hard you pushed. I will however repeat what I said and that is your score is not valid if your form is wrong. I write the score on the board that you tell me, but how can you justify it if you didn’t actually do it correctly? Why not just do it correctly and then see what sort of a score you get?

The WOD’s at CFK are not a competition. The WOD’s at a competition are a competition. The WOD’s at CFK are training. How can you train for something incorrectly? What happens when the open is on and I’m no-repping you because have bad form because you’ve trained with bad form? Do you then have to change your form for a competition? Does that sound silly? Good, because it is!

I’m fairly sure you’re all adults. I’m fairly sure that when you teach a child something new, you need to be very encouraging and keep their spirits and interest high. I’m fairly sure that everyone knows what good form and proper technique is, but makes a conscious decision not to adhere to it. So, what should I do? Say good work guys, you smashed those bad reps just to keep spirits high? You’re not learning something new, you took something you new perfectly well how to do and you chose not to do it correctly, so you should be reprimanded!

I am not sure why I need to walk around the gym telling people to squat deeper and push up lower etc etc etc. Does someone follow you around all day and tell you how to do everything correctly that you already know how to do? This is basic stuff!

If you are learning something new, it is a totally different story!

If anyone is not sure of the technique of something, can you please ask me before the WOD starts. If I pull you up on your technique once in a class, that should be the only time I need to tell you. After that, you are just ignoring proper form and being an ass. For what? So you can get an awesome fake score!

If something is too heavy for you, don’t lift it!

I don’t want a mentality in my gym that says lift heavy regardless of how your form is. You progress at the rate that your strength and technique will allow.

There is a reason why a lot of people hate CrossFit and that is usually because of bad form that can be seen on many a you tube video . Do you want to be that guy or girl? I am assuming everyone is saying “no” and that’s great, so don’t be that guy or girl!

Community is one of the greatest things about CrossFit and certainly at my box. I love the awesome community we have!!!!!!!! But, don’t start to foster bad habits and ideas in that community.

If you are sore after a big comp, take a rest day! It’s great to push each other, but don’t be silly about it. No-one needs an injury!

If you’re not ready to lift a heavy weight, then don’t! It’s very simple.

If you cannot Rx a WOD without perfect technique then don’t!

I’m just going to finish with a few movement tips;

Dips – get your chest, bicep and shoulder onto the ring then extend to a locked out elbow

Box jumps – get your entire foot on the box and extend your knees and hips before your heel passes below the top of the box

KB swings – keep your back straight. Keep your arms straight and get full extension overhead with your head in between your arms. When you put it down, don’t round your back!

Overhead barbell extension (thruster, push press, jerk etc) – straighten your arms and put your head in between your arms

Burpees – chest to ground whether it is a hand release or not then jump up to an upright position with full extension of hips, spine, shoulders and elbows

Oly lifts – don’t ever round your back! The rest of the technique we go can through together!

If you need to modify any of these movements for a particular competition, it is very easy to make something shorter, easier and worse. It is very hard to make something longer, harder and better!

Looking forward to seeing some perfect form tonight!

P.S The new individual chalk boards are in the pigeon holes, so no more writing on the floor please. After your workout, use the wet towels in the bucket to wipe your board down ready for the next class.

Thanks !

I know that a lot of you have mentioned that you haven’t been 100% on NOsugarVEMBER, but atleast you were way better than if you hadn’t set yourself the challenge.

If you only ate sugar on 4 occasions instead of 20 then that is a fantastic improvement!!!

You can re-weigh and measure yourselves tomorrow the 30th Nov or Saturday the 1st Dec. The choice is yours. Just remember to do it first thing in the morning after you have been to the toilet so it is the same as your original weigh in.

Please email me your number lost. It will be whatever is the bigger number of kg’s or cm’s. So if you lost 2kg and 4 cm off your waist, then your loss is 4cm. If you lost 2cm off your waist and 5kg on the scales, then your loss is 5kg.

Even if you didn’t register yourself at the start, but you’ve been secretly doing it, please give me your result, it would be fantastic to see how much weight you have all lost.

Remember, even if it’s 1kg/cm, it still counts!

I hope you all saw benefits to changing your eating habits this month!

Don’t put it all back on in December

It is very easy to understand and will only take you about 2 mins to read it, but I have to say it is one of the best explanations I have seen.

You’ll find it on this link Why sugar is bad for your heart

The downside to my challenge has been the NOsugarVEMBER. I know that food is an issue with a lot of people. Too much focus can cause anxiety and can trigger eating disorders. A challenge to some people can have problems associated with it that others simply wouldn’t understand. So, if this is you and you are feeling some sort of pressure, please don’t and please focus on the positive aspects. I will outline my solution which should still help you to shed a kilo/cm or two

When I set up these no sugar challenges, I do it for a few of reasons.

Some people have no idea how much sugar they actually consume and setting yourself 30 days to go without really drives that point home. On this point, once you have done that once, you pretty much know how much you used to eat and how much better/lighter you feel without it.

Another reason is that some people gradually go off track and before they know it, they are smashing the sugar at levels rivalling how they did it pre no sugar. This is where a 30 challenge can come in handy to snap them out of it.

Yet another reason is that people love to do things as a team. So if you are thinking about cutting back because you’re ready to drop some weight and feel better, then what better way to do it than with a group of like minded people! How many of you have put on facebook about your 30 day challenge. It can be exciting to challenge yourself!

There are a couple of reasons that are not why I set the challenge.

First reason that is not applicable is the air of superiority that can accompany some people when they do something different and possibly better than other people. This is rampant in Crossfitters who believe they exercise better than anyone else. Yes, they push themselves and do good exercises, but get a grip, it’s fitness, not brain surgery. Unfortunately some people also think that because they eat “Paleo” that they are superior to others. Once again, it’s a diet. Yes, it’s a good one, but it’s a diet and that’s it. If you want to eat that way, thats great, but keep it to yourself and keep your ego under control. BTW if you eat paleo 80% of the time, you don’t eat paleo, you eat a fairly clean diet. If I drove 80% of the way to work, I’d be on a freeway, 20% of the way away from work and I could hardly claim I was at work now could I.

Secondly, I don’t do it to make people feel bad. Sugar is an addictive substance and we should be minimising it in our diets, but some people feel pressured in these challenges and start to fall apart if they screw up. This can trigger a follow on effect that will see them go further off the rails and get down on themselves and eat worse food. This can never be mine or any other health professionals intent.

So how do we get around it?

Well before I answer that, I want to point out to you my post challenge guidelines. It is never to be 100% sugar free. It is always to give you guidelines that are manageable that will see you living with way less sugar in your diet. Now if you live like this, you don’t really need a challenge to set you straight, because you’re already living the dream. Bear in mind if you’ve gone off the rails, the challenge will probably set you straight again. Following my post challenge guidelines is easily doable and will keep you level headed about it all for the long term, no yo yo sugar, no sugar, sugar, no sugar etc. I believe a very small amount of sugar in manageable amounts will keep you healthier than the extreme actions of yo yo-ing. If you can’t remember my post challenge guidelines scroll down to the 30 day challenge post and have a read.

Note, that if you live sugar free and love it and don’t have an issue. I commend you, but don’t pour your self righteousness onto others who don’t share your constitution.

So, about these ideas for people who struggle with food.

Set yourself some manageable guidelines. My post challenge guidelines are a good place to start, but that may not work for you. If you need something more specific, you have to look at your current diet. How many days a week do you have alochol? Can we half or quarter that? How many days do you eat sweets? Can we cut that down to 1 or 2? How many meals do you eat that involve a starchy carb? Could that be reduced to 1 specific night of the week? Setting certain foods/drinks for certain days is good, because it takes the thought out of it, but you can also look forward to it.

I think you can see what I am getting at. Cutting down can be a lot more manageable than cutting out and it will still get results but it will keep you focussed. It is much easier to say to someone, “you can’t have a drink until the weekend” rather than “you can’t drink for 30 days”. For some people that may be an improvement of 3 days a week!

The main thing with this system is that you must be making improvements. You can’t say “I will only drink on the weekend” if you only drink on the weekends now! What change is that? Don’t limit sweets to twice a week if you already have them twice a week. If it is a massive task to go to once a week, a stepping stone can be once this week and twice next week. Remember, I am trying to make the transition as easy as possible for the many people who have food issues.

I am going to finish on one big point. Try not to focus on it all too much, just do what you can do to make yourself healthier and keep your sanity. Setting guidelines takes the thought out if it! You just stick to the manageable plan you set!

So, let’s get prepared. It has been somewhat of a tradition to do NOsugarVEMBER at this time for quite a few years now. The same rules will apply to our standard 30 sugar free days challenge, check it out here

If you are struggling to lose the extra few kg’s or maybe you’re just a little off the rails, this could be just what you need.

Just as a little side note, if you know you have got a special event or 2 coming up and you think you couldn’t possibly do this challenge, please put that thought aside and just do your best. 28 sugar free days is better than none! Don’t miss the whole challenge and the results that come with it simply because you can’t be 100% with it. But, having said that, please try to be 100%.

So what’s this about losing 100kg/cm?

This is my goal for this November. I want everyone to join together to lose at least 100kg or 100cm between us.

This means, today you will weigh yourself and measure your waist. Take the measurement exactly on your belly button. Make sure the tape measure is flush to your skin all the way around, but not too tight.

At the end of the month you will once again weight yourself and measure your waistline.

Your score will be whichever of the 2 measurements is the greater.

I am absolutely positive that we can crush 100kg/cm. Obviously some people have more to lose than others, but even I am going to aim for 2kg/cm.

You do not have to be doing NOsugarVEMBER to do the 100kg/cm challenge, but it will help

So who’s in?

When you put your name down for the challenge, tell me how much you are aiming to lose and be realistic. This will help me gauge how many kg/cm’s we could crush. If at the end of the challenge, you don’t make it exactly, at least you have set yourself a goal!

Sign up by the facebook page or email.

Woo HOO!!!

I am extremely proud of my Tough Mudder team that conquered the course on the 22nd September 2012.

18 of my Fitta Bodies crew braved the course and pulled together to help each other and a lot of other Tough Mudders over the obstacles.

The course was 21 obstacles through 20km of the wilderness and a good majority of that was in the MUD!

We crawled through mud with barbed wire as the incentive to stay low then we jumped into water loaded with tonnes of ice and were forced to dive under an obstacle in order to get to the end of the pool. That one took your breathe away literally!

We walked along beams and climbed along monkey bars in order to avoid the muddy water. Despite the efforts of some of my team members, I did manage to stay on both the beam and the bars and avoid the water. Thanks guys for trying your best to shake me off the beam though!!!

My second least favourite was the “Electric Eel” where we had to crawl and slide along a muddy wet slide whilst electric shocks hit you in the back and shoulders. OUCH!

I loved the climbing obstacles, such as climbing over huge logs, which most people need 2 – 3 people to get over, but not our crew, a little jump and then muscle up, slide and you’re over. The walls were a different story, it was unlikely anyone was getting over the huge ones on their own, it generally took 2 people to boost someone up whilst another person sat at the top of the wall to pull them up.

The cargo nets were fun, getting over the top at those heights was a challenge for some. I wouldn’t have said running through the fire/smoke was a challenge if it wasn’t for the people blocking the way, so we ended up inhaling way too much smoke!

We carried logs around a muddy section of the track and jumped over muddy ditches whilst trying to stay on your feet in the slippery mud. Come to think of it, there was a lot of mud!

I did manage to get myself stuck in the “Muddy Mile” which was about 10 huge piles of mud with very, very sticky mud in between them. I literally could not move my body out of the mud, it took Luke and Darrin pulling my arms, whilst Elicia tried to free one of my legs. A very scary moment, but all part of the fun.

My third least favourite was the 5 metre jump into water. It didn’t really look that high from the ground, but when you got up there and you can’t see anything in the water because it is so muddy, it was very scary. I apologise to my team mates for not waiting, but when I made up my mind to jump, I just couldn’t wait!

One of the most challenging obstacles was “Everest” a huge quarter pipe that was extremely challenging to do on your own. A select few made it solo, but we it generally took 2 people hanging over to catch the hands of the runner as they made their way up the huge slope. Of course there was also Adam who slammed face first on his first attempt and missed the hands on his second attempt He did make it on his third though and he didn’t quit!!!

And now we come to my least favourite, one I will not forget any time soon. “Electroshock therapy” You run through slippery mud whilst live wires dangle from head to toe delivering shocks of 10, 000 volts. It took a lot of courage to run through this one, but we all did it at the same time. We considered holding hands, but abandoned that idea when we thought it might increase the shocks. I’m glad I wasn’t holding Adam’s hand, as he got thrown to the ground and blacked out for a second…

Add to all of this loads of creek crossings, steep hills and did I mention mud?

It was one of the most fun and challenging things I have ever done! Would I do it again? Probably not, I have done it, I conquered every challenge thrown at me and now I know what to expect, sometimes the unknown is better,  but…

Would I recommend it to anyone else who is considering it? Absolutely, without a doubt!

I’m also extremely proud of my beautiful wife Hannah for conquering every obstacle as well!

I will be posting photos on the facebook page during the week as I get them from the many photographers who snapped us along the way.

I am rehashing some info from my very popular NoSugar challenges I have run in the past.

This means for 30 days;

No alcohol

No cakes, chocolates, pastries, ice creams, soft drink

No Fruit juices, boost juices, smoothies, milk shakes

No white potato

No sugar in tea or coffee

No sweetened yogurt

No dried fruit

2 – 3 pieces of fruit per day only

No more than 2 slices of grain bread per male and 1 slice per female a maximum of two times per week, always served with protein

No more than 1 cup of cooked pasta per male and 1/2 cup per female a maximum of two times per week, always served with protein

No more than 1 cup of cooked basmati rice per male and 1/2 cup per female a maximum of two times per week, always served with protein

I know you are all going to lose some weight in this month, but my main aim of this 30 days without sugar is to show you how much sugar you normally consume and to hopefully curb your sugar cravings.

By the end of this month, I hope you will have developed habits that will see you;

Drink tea and coffee without sugar

Only drink alcohol once or a maximum of twice per week

Only eat sweets once or a maximum of twice per week

Learn that meals should be made up of large amounts of non root vegetables

Treat pasta or rice as an accompaniment to a meal, not the main part of the meal

Never drink soft drinks

Avoid Boost juices and other blended drinks

Learn that dried fruit is not a health food

Choose lower sugar yogurts

So who’s in?

This will definitely shred off some of that bodyfat that has suddenly appeared since the swimsuit got packed away earlier in the year!!!

Once the challenge is over. I am sure a few of you will indulge as a reward to yourself for lasting out the  30 days and if it is only one treat, it is fine. I am a realist and I understand that whilst in a perfect world, we wouldn’t consume sugar, but I know it is not the reality. Sugar is all around us and is very addictive, so let’s put the focus on reducing our intake rather than eliminating it. Having said that, if you can eliminate it completely, then well done, I am stoked for you. For the rest of us, let’s put solid plans into place for our sugar reduction policy.

• No soft drink ever
• No bottled fruit juice ever
• Alcohol only once or twice per week on special occasions
• Sweets only once or twice per week- ice cream, chocolate, cakes etc
• No lollies or cookies or chocolates from a jar at work, it is completely unnecessary
• Encourage your workplace to have fruit or healthy options for the ever present morning and afternoon teas
• If you have cake or the like at work for a morning or afternoon tea, then make sure it is counted in your 1 or 2 sweet treats per week
• No sugar in tea or coffee
• No dried fruit, it is not a health food
• Pasta, bread, rice and potato are condiments to accompany a meal of protein and vegetables or salad. They are not the main component to a meal and should only take up 1/3 of the plate or less
• Look for lower sugar varieties of yogurt as they can have lots of hidden sugar
• Never have artificial sweeteners. They are bad chemicals and they trigger the brain to crave sweet things

Good luck to everyone on your quest for sugar freedom, better health and your optimal bodyfat levels.